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On October 5, 1905, years of invention and failure culminated into history as Wilbur Wright took to the sky in a craft that soared through the air for 24 miles. More than a century later, just a few miles from the field over which it first flew, the 1905 Wright Flyer III—now designated a National Historic Landmark—spreads its wings at Carillon Historical Park, inspiring visitors with its tale of innovation, persistence, and progress, and the aptly named "Wilbur Wright: A Life of Consequence" exhibit. Nearby, the park's Heritage Center features the year-round Carousel of Dayton Innovation, which contains 31 figures, a 38-foot hand-painted mural illustrating the turn of events in the Wright Brothers flying exhibits, and rides for $1.
As impressive as they are, the airplane and carousel are only a few of Carillon Historical Park’s myriad attractions. Named for the 151-foot-tall Deeds Carillon, whose 57 bells have been pealing since 1942, the campus spreads across 65 acres. Just south of downtown, 30 historical buildings, including the 28,000 sq.ft. Heritage Center of Dayton Manufacturing and Entrepreneurship, draw visitors into Dayton’s past and share in the park's devotion to history, heritage, and progress. Early settlement structures such as the Newcom Tavern—the oldest building still standing in Dayton—sit alongside other original buildings such as an 1815-era stone cottage. The park also includes replica buildings, such as the Deeds Barn and the Wright Cycle Shop, which recreate the birthplaces of the automobile self-starter and the airplane.
The park’s transportation theme continues with an 1835 B&O steam locomotive and an interactive 1/8 scale railroad available to ride on select days for an extra fee and whose train cars carry passengers more effectively than 1/8 scale feet would. Nearby, the first Chevy S-10 truck minted by GM’s Moraine Plant in 1988 mingles with a fleet of vintage and classic autos. After admiring their hulls, visitors can swing by Culp’s Café—named and modeled after the eatery where widow and mother of six Charlotte Gilbert Culp served pies in the '30s and '40s—and order burgers or soda-fountain creations off a '40s-style menu. Before leaving, guests can peruse Wright brothers paraphernalia and items from the park’s 1930s letterpress printing shop at the museum store or sign up for educational programming that teaches lost arts such as candle dipping and butter churning.

A crowd of 12,000 gathered across Wright Field on September 3, 1971. The reason: President Nixon had arrived to dedicate the new National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. It was a crowning achievement for the Air Force Museum Foundation, which continues to support the museum in its mission to inform the public on the Air Force's history and heritage. The museum's collection charts military aviation history?from the Wright Brothers to World War II to present day.
Museum admission and parking are always free. Current exhibits include more than 360 aerospace vehicles and missiles, and cover a time span from the beginnings of military fight to today's war on terrorism.
Size: more than 17 acres of indoor exhibit space houses more than 360 aerospace vehicles and missiles, along with thousands of historical items
Eye Catcher: the 3-D aviation films shown on the 80'x60' theater screen
Permanent Mainstay: the museum?s space shuttle exhibit, which allows visitors to experience a full-size replica of a shuttle payload bay and look into the flight deck and mid-deck levels of the crew compartment trainer.
Don't Miss: aviation-related gifts at the museum's store, which also boasts one of the largest aviation bookstores in the country
Historical Turning Point: Bockscar, the B-29 bomber that dropped the Fat Man atomic bomb on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945
Hands-On Flying: An interactive simulator lets visitors fly nine different planes, including an F-15 Eagle
Pro Tip: Download one of the museum's podcasts to listen to while exploring the galleries

Easy as A-B-C, the artists behind Life in Letters craft custom photographic gifts available both in their shop and online. Over the years, they've amassed a vast collection of black-and-white photos of common objects and sights that resemble letters—such as arches, golf balls, fences, and palm trees—which they assemble into meaningful words, such as love, laugh, family, and nihilism. Once customers have chosen their word and selected each letter, they can have their piece matted and framed to suit their own decor or that of a loved one. The photographers also share their skills with aspiring shutterbugs during regular introductory photography classes.

Train hobbyist Don Oeters founded EnterTRAINment Junction in 2008 to showcase railroading in an educational and amusing way. Two years later, his 80,000-square-foot facility was voted Ohio's Best Family Entertainment Center of 2010.
At the centerpiece, a 25,000-square-foot indoor model train display dazzles visitors with 90 G-scale trains and 2 miles of track winding through handcrafted landscapes, including an 11-foot waterfall, thousands of trees, and scenes documenting railroad's early, middle, and modern periods. Each train car is the size of a loaf of bread, making it easier for groups to see it or break it into communal pieces, and Oeters and his staff continually tweak the locomotive's surroundings by adding seasonal touches and installing minor or major updates. Historical train artifacts, educational videos, and interactive exhibits await amblers in the railroad museum, and the Imagination Junction kids' area entertains youngsters with train-themed play structures.

Every time the Darke County Historical Society unearths a new finding, there’s a good chance that the public’s first look at it will come in the exhibition halls of Greenville’s Garst Museum. More than 300,000 American artifacts fill the museum's six wings, many of which were discovered—or rediscovered, as the case may be—over the course of the society's archeological digs, genealogical research, and historic preservation activities.
Among the century-spanning exhibits, the softer side of sharpshooter Annie Oakley unfolds in the Coppock Wing, and antique cannonballs and Humvees speak of the wartime exploits of General "Mad" Anthony Wayne. Down on the first floor, a painting of Chief Tarhe, Grand Sachem of the Wyandots, presides over a collection that focuses on America during the 1700s but leaves room for anachronistic elements such as mastodon bones. The newest exhibit, "Diversity in Darke County: The Story of Longtown," celebrates local history with its visual chronicle of a tri-racial settlement in Greenville.
Aside from the main two-story brick Colonial home—which was built as an inn in 1852, according to Touring Ohio—the society and the museum maintain several properties of historic note. A free, self-guided tour of Bear's Mill and its 800-foot water channel can be capped with a cup of gourmet coffee, and the Lowell Thomas house provides insights into the childhood of the broadcaster and adventurer who once famously dined with the Prince of Wales inside an actual whale.

Red steel plates that seem to be taking flight, a warped obelisk, and a dome made of metal dragonflies?these are just a few of the 64 statues nestled among the gardens and meadows at Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park. In addition to delighting visitors with massive objets d?art, the 335-acre outdoor museum exhibits the naturally occurring beauty of wooded thickets, and seven lakes. After wandering along the hiking trails, driving along paved roads, and peering into the remains of a stone house built by pioneers, guests can visit the 10,000-square-foot Ancient Sculpture Museum. The museum showcases Roman, Egyptian, Greek, and Etruscan statuary, which was chiseled before mankind invented the frames that forced all art to become flat.
In addition to curating sculptures, the park hosts a slew of activities relating to art and the environment. Its Summer Series for Kids organizes programming such as puppet shows for little ones.